The agreement provides $34,084,000,000 for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) activities, including $352,000,000 from the 21st Century Cures Act, an increase of $2,000,000,000, or 6.2 percent, above fiscal year 2016.
The agreement continues the commitment to funding research on Alzheimer’ s disease and increases funding by $400,000,000 to a total of $1,391,000,000 in fiscal year 2017; increases funding for the Precision Medicine Initiative by $120,000,000; increases funding for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative by $110,000,000, and increases funding for antibiotic resistance research by $50,000,000. In addition, a funding increase above fiscal year 2016 is provided to every Institute and Center to continue investments in research that will save lives, lead to new drug and device development, reduce health care costs, and improve the lives of all Americans.
Funding from the 21st Century Cures Act was previously appropriated for fiscal year 2017 by section 194 of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2017. Per the authorization, $300,000,000 is transferred to the National Cancer Institute for cancer research and $52,000,000 will be allocated from the NIH Innovation Fund, in this agreement reflected in the Office of the Director, for the Precision Medicine Initiative cohort ($40,000,000), the BRAIN Initiative ($10,000,000), and regenerative medicine research ($2,000,000).
The agreement increases funding for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards to $516, 120,000; increases funding for the Institutional Development A ward to $333,361,000; The Common Fund is supported as a set-aside within the Office of the Director at $695,456,000. The agreement expects the 6.2 percent increase of funds over the fiscal year 2016 lev el to support an increase in the number of new and competing Research Project Grants.
The agreement expects NIH to support a consistent NIH-wide inflationary policy across ali ICs that is no less than the general increase provided to ali ICs (3.0 percent) for non-competing grants. The agreement expects that NIH will continue its focus on emerging investigators and first-time renewals of these young investigators with actions to significantly reduce the average age of an NIH-supported new investigator.
The agreement expects NIH to support the number of Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards and other training grants in proportion to at least the general IC level funding increase. The agreement expects NIH to provide a stipend level and inflationary increase to grantees that is at least consistent with any fiscal year 2017 Federal employee pay raise.
Full text: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20170501/CPRT-115-HPRT-RU00-SAHR244-AMNT.pdf
Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran’s statement on the omnibus
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/cochran-presses-for-passage-of-fy2017-omnibus-appropriations
Lowey’s statement: http://democrats.appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/lowey-statement-on-fy2017-omnibus-appropriations-act
Senate Labor HHS summary:
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FY17%20Labor%20HHS%20Education%20Conference%20Agreement%20Summary%20-%20Final.pdf
House Labor HHS summary:
https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/05.01.17_fy_2017_omnibus_-_labor_health_and_human_services_and_education_-_summary.pdf
Labor-HHS Report language:
https://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/115/OMNI/DIVISION%20H-%20LABORHHS%20SOM%20OCR%20FY17.pdf